My Beloved Ferret
by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia

AN:
Well...This is it.
The last chapter of my beloved story, My Beloved Ferret.
I loved writing this, really I did!
It was fun...The reviews I got were awesome and I love every single one of my readers and reviewers (THANK YOU!) I really want to thank you guys for never losing hope in me, even when I added in my...erm...strange humor, which as we all know HAS to reappear once in awhile.
I want to thank Sonya and Leigh for beta-ing the first 8 chapters of this fic and Nic for beta-ing the last four...THANK YOU SO MUCH! You three are the best!
I also would like to say that the answer to Muffin 2 is 'The Lion King' as correctly guessed by HyperSquishy and deppforever07, hehe. (Hyper even got the character right--Scar.) Hooray D
I'm not gonna tell you who Super-Punk is, you have to guess! haha.
I must also mention that I realized something: I know in a lot of random places in the fic or AN it just says 'D' or 'C'. This is because I used smiley faces with an equal sign that doesn't show up on Lol. So wherever it says 'D' or 'C' it's a smiley.

Chapter Twelve
Exit Quickly, But Not Quietly

Ginny stared in shock. There was Draco Malfoy, lying on the floor not only completely naked (as it took Ginny a few moments after Blaise threw a blanket over him to register) but also dead.

"Well," came a voice from behind the door. "I was sort of right, wasn't I?"

Ginny turned her head as tears started to fill her eyes.

It was Ron.

Ginny could do nothing this time to keep herself from fainting. The lack of energy, the battles with Karissa, and the truckload of information that was being poured onto her...She was out.

Ron was standing in the doorway with Neville Longbottom and Pansy Parkinson. The three of them stared at everyone else, who could only stare at Draco, his platinum blonde hair curling at the ends and falling over the forehead of his battle-worn face. He was still and unmoving, and even though they hated Draco, Hermione couldn't help but cry.

"We didn't even know," Hermione whispered. "That it was him the whole time. Nobody even noticed he was gone."

Ron nodded grimly. "I know," he agreed. "I only came to that conclusion after I got trapped in this...dungeon."

Hermione raised her wand wearily and cried, "Petrificus Totalus," freezing Karissa. But the girl's eyes shone and unlocked herself. Still, she surprisingly disappeared at that moment. Where she went, they couldn't guess.

"I think we should get back to Hogwarts," began Harry softly.

"Yeah...Sort this all out," Blaise agreed.

Super Prep let out a small sob. "I failed?"

"No," said Blaise, turning to her. "You did a good job."

"I did?" she asked excitedly. "Wheee!"

And she shot up in the air, flying away.

"Well...If we can be of any help, you know where to find us," Super Punk said.

"Hey...You know that you two look alike...sort of?" pointed out Billy Goat to Harry and Super Punk.

"YeahaboutthatIgottagonowkaybye," Super Punk mumbled. He vanished as well, Billy Goat following.
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They sat in the Room of Requirement in deep silence. They had set Draco on a bed by himself--after Hermione waved her wand, and he was instantly clothed.

Ginny was lying on an identical bed on the other side of the room.

Everyone else sat on the floor stonily, waiting for someone to say something.

Finally, Blaise snapped to life. (Figuratively, of course.) He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Hermione, through her silent tears.

"There's a catch. There is a huge, humongous catch," cackled Blaise.

Hermione's eyes searched Blaise. "Blaise," she began, "There is no spell that can reawaken the dead."

"You're right, there isn't," Blaise smiled gleefully. "But Draco isn't dead. He's sleeping! He's splinched! Haha, he died as a ferret but he's not a ferret so he's still alive! I won't be in limbo after all!"

"Splinched?" asked Hermione incredulously. "Blaise, what--How does that work out?"

Blaise grinned. "Draco was in his Animagus form when the Avada Kedavra spell hit him. Oh, Hermione, didn't you know? Avada Kedavra only kills body. The only thing that kills a soul is a Dementor's Kiss, of course. But he was hit with Avada Kedavra, which killed the body he was in. Hermione, he wasn't in his human body. He was in the ferret body!"

Hermione stared at him. "But...aren't they the same? Isn't an Animagus someone who can transform their body into an animal's?"

"No, Hermione...I forgot, this hasn't been discovered yet among you living lot...Hermione, Animagi use the bodies of animals that have passed away. That's why there is an illegal Animagus who's running around as a dodo. There could be a dinosaur. There could be anything as long as it has lived before. When you transform into an Animagus, you sort of...shed your human body, and it sort of just...lies there in non-existence. So your soul's doing the traveling, really. Which is why I'm positive Draco's alive. He died as a ferret, but his human body is still here!" Blaise smiled.

"So, where's his soul?" asked Hermione, her eyebrow twitching and her arms crossed in that smart-aleck sort of I've-just-found-the-flaw-in-your-brilliant-plan way.

"His soul's in the--" Blaise stopped short. "I can't tell you, but I promise if you give me Draco's body I will return with him alive. I swear. Just give me an hour, and he'll be back strutting around Hogwarts in no time."

Hermione sighed and nodded.
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Sure enough, an hour later, Blaise returned with a beaten-up Draco, who, for possibly the first time ever, smiled amiably.

"Oh, Draco," breathed Hermione. "I never, ever thought I'd be happy to see you alive." She grinned at him and hugged his arm. "You're a cute ferret," she admitted, touching his nose.

"Thank you. Sorry I can't say the same for you as a lioness," he teased, and Hermione actually laughed.

Blaise slapped his hand down on Draco's shoulder, holding it there. They both smirked with happiness at each other, but the pain in their eyes held more than anyone could tell. "It's good to have you back," they both said in unison, not even twitching.

Ginny laughed. It was scary how some people could be so perfectly made for each other, as friends and companions like Blaise and Draco or as romantic interests, like Harry and Hermione, who were sitting and watching from the couch, Ron seated comfortably near them. Scarier yet, she realized, was how perfectly three people meshed together.

And so, she stepped forward between Blaise and Draco.

"Well! Isn't it the little missy?" teased Blaise, making a show of looking down at her. (Blaise and Draco were both much taller than her, as she had inherited her mother's shortness, though she wasn't quite as short.)

"Oh, shut up," Ginny grinned.

Blaise quietly stepped away and let Ginny and Draco take the limelight. They walked quietly to the other side of the room...a door closing conveniently behind them. as their eyes struggled to make contact without looking away quickly. Her eyes were such a warm chesnut brown, and his such a cold, icy gray...She knew that below the layers and sheets of ice lay a fragile person, shivering and waiting for warmth...And probably love too.

"So," Ginny started nervously. As a twelve-year-old girl, she'd had no trouble insulting Draco, so why was her heart pounding as she tried to be friendly to him now? "You're...Cocoa."

Draco smiled faintly. "I would guess so." Pause. "Honestly, Ginny, couldn't you think of a better name?"

Ginny laughed. "I thought it was cute. See, the last syllable in your name's 'co' so I said it twice and...Yeah."

How could she feel so stupid in front of someone she herself had called stupid many times before?

"I'm...I think I should say sorry," he started weakly.

She softened, her arm sort of being drawn to his arm. "No...no, don't be--"

"For all of the times I saw you...when you were...getting changed. And the like."

Ginny couldn't stifle another laugh. "And I guess I should say sorry for letting you escape into the hands of those--"

"--insufferable second-year Hufflepuff girls," he finished, scowling briefly. "No, that was me too...A great escape plot of mine that was foiled miserably by a bunch of twelve-year-olds."

They grinned, then there was a distressed pause. A small space of time where they gazed at each other, seeking words, seeking feelings, seeking...anything. The search was mutual, but that fact was not known to the both of them.

Finally, Draco spoke up.

"Ginny...I just have to..."

"Oh, Draco..." Ginny exhaled and sighed deeply but uneasily. "Don't...oh."

"I'm so sorry for this," he whispered.

And then he pulled her into the most important, breath-stealing, fateful kiss of both their lives.

By the time they pulled apart, Ginny had collapsed on the floor, crying.

"I'm sorry," Draco told her, his voice soft and low. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have...I'm sorry."

"No...No..." she sobbed. "I'm just...You don't even know! I didn't even...Oh!"

He knelt and stared fearfully at her hand before grasping it. She glanced up at him, but his eyes locked into hers as he pulled her up. He felt so much that he should look away, and then run. He didn't have the authority to be within her area. He didn't have the right to be in the same country. He didn't even have the right to be living in the same world as her. If it would make her happy, he would take that kiss back and obliviate her memory of any contact they'd made within time. If it would make her happy, he would stop breathing and die away, just to take away the pain he knew he would cause. Something had changed in him, while he was a ferret.

He'd fallen in love with Ginny Weasley, and he didn't think she'd fallen in love back.

And he'd kissed her, and he knew it would hurt.

His father had killed hers.

Her brother hated his family.

Her family hated his family.

He'd kissed her, and he knew it would hurt her if he pursued this...Maybe as much as it would hurt him to leave.

He'd rather die for her...In fact, he had an example to prove it.

"Ginny...I'm just going to leave now. I can't do this to you."

"No!" she screeched, her breathing heavy and uneven. He turned and looked.

"You can't do this to me. You can't...leave."

"Ginny, the two of us can't be together. It is the most ridiculously impossible thing in the world. Our fathers died killing each other. Your brother and my cousin loathe each other with a passion. Your mother and my mother are absolute rivals, to put it lightly."

"But that doesn't matter," she whispered. "You almost died for me...you almost died for me!"

He tried to come up with an excuse to that, but all he could do was crash her into him in a tight hug.

They stayed like that for a few moments, until Ginny couldn't stand the drama anymore and mumbled, "You're also the only boy who's ever seen me naked. I hope."

He let out a little laugh. "That may be true, but it doesn't change anything."

"Draco...They can't take you away from me. You're my beloved ferret," she joked.

He laughed again and kissed her. "Fine...Let's go back there and get the approval from your brother, first."

"Fair."

They got up and went to the door. She put her hand on the door, bit her lip, and then turned to look at him. He said out loud the thought she had in her head.

"On second thought...Are you sure about this?"

She smiled. "Look at it this way: If Ron Weasley is a big obstacle to you...then what does that say about you?"

Draco smirked at her, and then marched straight through the door. Ginny followed, giggling the entire time.

"So," Blaise started. "How was the snog session?"

Draco and Ron's jaws dropped in unison, while Ginny watched, giggling.

"Oh, don't hide it," Blaise added quickly. Hermione could swear on her life she saw pink rushing not only to Ginny's but also Draco's cheeks.

"...Fine!" Draco blurted out after recovering from the shock. He turned to Ron. "Weasel--I mean, Weasley, I know that my father was a bastard and my mother's the biggest bitch in the world, but I think that I am at least fairly all right, if not quite the gentleman, and I would like to ask you for your permission to...umm..."

"Snog my sister senseless?" asked Ron flatly.

Ginny nodded, then looked at Blaise, then burst out laughing.

Ron sighed. "If you must."

Ginny smiled at Draco, who turned around quickly. They left, back into the room they came from.

"...That went..." started Draco. Ginny's eyebrow quivered.

"Excellent? I know. Thanks to your slick wording, son of a bitch," Ginny replied promptly. He looked at her, and suddenly it was time for her to acquire his trademark smirk.

"Well? Surely you're a better kisser than Harry Potter. Give me your best, ferret boy."

fin

AN:

Oh. My. God.

I finished it.

dies

resurrection

WELL? How did you like it? Excited for the sequel? It'll be ten times better, I promise.
I would like to mention that this is actually the first chaptered fic I've ever completely finished and published.
I know, I know.
Also: I realize that I left a few questions unanswered...How does Harry know Karissa? Who is she anyway? What is Blaise's mission? What's up with the whole D/G thing? What about H/Hr? Why were Pansy and Neville in the dungeon with Ron? What does 'This one's evil, woven' mean? Even one from the first chapter...Why is Ginny a dragon?
Yes, I did this to you on purpose.
Because I will answer them in the sequel...if you read it!
So, do what any reader with at least any mild, if seemingly-nonexistent signs of a heart would do and PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, REVIEW!
STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIPS AND REVIEW. hehe.

I LOVE YOU!

THANKS FOR READING!

SEE YA SOON!

LOVE,
StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia 3